How could this happen to me?
by avalon88
Summary: When three of the CSI's go out to a club, something happens that will change one of their lives forever. Nickcentric, mild GregSara
1. The Night

**Title: **How could this happen to me?

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I'm not in control of what gets written for CSI.

**Spoilers: **Could be anything

Chapter 1: The Night

Nick Stokes was having a really tough shift. His case had been about a mother beating her son to death because he didn't to his chores on time. He needed a distraction desperately.

"Hey Nick!" someone yelled from down the hall. Nick turned and saw that it was Greg, closely followed by Sara.

"Both of us have the night off, and we were wondering if you wanted to go to that new club on the strip with us?"

"Sure, I could use a little distraction. I'll meet you there."

Nick went to the locker room, changed his shirt, and went out to his car to drive to the club.

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Upon arriving at the club, Nick saw Greg and Sara sitting at the bar, and went up to sit with them.

Sara had an orange juice and Greg had a beer.

"Sara's our designated driver tonight," Greg commented. Nick snorted.

He raised his hand and the bar tender, a tall woman with a pretty face, came over to take his order. He asked for one beer, because he would be driving himself home that night.

A few minutes after that Greg asked Sara to dance. As they went off to the dance floor, Nick watched them with a smile on his face. The two of them had become very close during the last few months. So when they had announced that they were moving in together, he was not very surprised.

The woman came back with his drink right then, so he looked away from the happy couple to take a sip of his beer. It was already opened and poured into a glass for him.

As he took a sip, it occurred to Nick that the beer tasted different then the one he had ordered. But he decided not to make a fuss, as the bar was very busy and the hostess most likely would not like to be reprimanded about picking the wrong drink.

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Nick, Greg and Sara had a great night at the club. Nick knew that he could drive safely with two beers, so he had a second one. Again, it tasted different, but again, he said nothing to the bar tender.

After being at the club for several hours, the three friends decided it was time to go home. As they walked towards their cars, Nick swayed a little and put his hand on his car.

"Hey Nick watch it," said Greg. "How much did you have to drink tonight?"

"Just two beers and I know I can still drive safely. Stop mothering me," Nick was a little irritated that Greg was acting so concerned. It wasn't like he had had loads to drink that night.

Greg looked over at Sara for help.

"Seriously Nick, you don't look to steady on your feet. Maybe we should give you a ride home. I can drive you back here tomorrow to pick up your car."

"Once again, stop mothering me. I'm fine. I just had a hard day at work and need to sleep it off."

With that Nick jumped into his car and drove away, leaving a concerned Sara and Greg standing in the parking lot.

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As Nick drove home, he noticed that his vision was a little blurry, and he dismissed it as fatigue.

What he didn't notice was that his speedometer was slowly rising, going more and more about the speed limit. Another thing that he didn't notice was that he was coming close to the edge of the road, right near were a little girl was standing. Then suddenly he was jerked hard to the right. Then his whole world went black.

TBC

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Author's note: Sorry it took so long to get this started. I'm right in the middle of exams right now. I'll update as soon as I can. Please review.


	2. The Roll

How could this happen to me?

Chapter 2: The Roll

"George, come on, you promised you would take me for ice cream tonight, please!" came the insistent small voice from down the hall.

"Frankie, you were support to have been in bed hours ago. We have to be at the airport tomorrow at 5 am you know," George commented to his excited little sister.

"I can sleep on the plane tomorrow, George, and you said Ross's is open late on Fridays. Please," George gave in. He could never stand up to Frankie's puppy face.

"All right pest. Just let me ask Dad."

Frankie started dancing around the room singing, "We're going to see Ross. We're going to see Ross."

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After getting permission from their dad and swearing to be back in fifteen minutes, George took his sister by the hand and led her out of the house towards the end of the street and the small ice cream store owned and operated by one of their closest family friends.

George may have been 17, and his sister only 7, but he didn't mind holding her hand when he knew it would be safer to do so. He was very protective of Frankie, and always had been.

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They arrived at the ice cream store a few minutes later. There were a few people around, even though it was nearly 11 pm. They were all people of the neighborhood, out for a late night snake, and George and Frankie knew them all by name.

The siblings went up to the window. Standing there was Ross, and old man that had run the little ice cream store for as long as George could remember. He had more wrinkles then anyone else in the world, George betted, and he was also the nicest man ever. He never said a bad word about anyone.

"Alright Frankie, tell Ross what you want."

"Chocolate please, Ross."

"I'll have peanut butter crunch."

"George, I'm going over there ok," Frankie asked.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a space commander, and my ship is traveling through the delta quitrent, lost for years, and are trying to find out way home," was her answer.

"Alright, but don't go too far away."

As Frankie played her little game, George turned to talk to Ross before he scooped their ice cream.

"So, you guys and Will leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah, our plane leaves at 6am."

"Ouch, that's way too early for me."

"Yes, but Frankie is so excited to go to Florida, and the Kennedy Space Center."

"I still can't believe that a 7 year olds essay won over someone who was a university student. That little girl is determined to be an astronaut some day. Tell me again what you'll be doing?"

"We'll get to visit with all 7 astronauts going on this shuttle mission, and go around the center to visit all the training facilities, and have prime seats for the launch next week."

"So you're staying a total of 8 days."

"Yeah. You should have seen Frankie today. She would not stay still when we were packing. She was jumping around everywhere."

"From what I heard before, that girl has been watching too much Star Trek."

George laughed. Frankie loved Star Trek. That was all she ever watched on TV. No kids programs for her.

Ross scooped their ice cream, and gave it to George. When he tried to hand over some money, Ross shook his head. "My treat, free of charge."

"Ross, I wouldn't feel right not paying you."

"Tell you what; use that money to buy Frankie a little souvenir down in Florida. Tell her it's from Ross."

George nodded, and pocketed the money. He then took the ice creams and started walking towards where Frankie was.

Before he got to her he noticed that his shoe was untied. Not wanting to disturb Frankie in her game, George took both cones in one hand and bend down, trying to tie the lace with the other hand. It was not going well. After several minutes, he at last got it into what could maybe be considered a knot, and stood up again to continue towards his sister.

Frankie was playing in the grass, standing in one spot and holding a little plastic space ship over her head, her lips moving slightly as she wove her own little story about the ship.

George suddenly realized that there was a big black SUV coming down the street. It was going way too fast, and was swerving a little to the right.

"Frankie," George wanted his sister as far away from the curb and that car as possible.

"What George?"

"Come over here."

"Why?"

"……….I have your ice cream."

"Alright."

Frankie started to pocket the little ship, but it was at that time that the SUV came level with where she was standing. It was also at that place where it hit the curb. But it was going too fast to just bounce. George watched in horror, the whole scene going in slow motion, as the car started to roll. Frankie looked up from her pocket just as the side of the car came in contact with her small body. George thought he heard himself screaming at the top of his lungs "FRANKIE," but he was never sure. The car continued to roll, right over his sister. Squashing her beneath its bulk. Before it pushed her to the ground, George was sure that he heard Frankie yell "George, help me." After rolling over her, the car continued rolling one or two more times, but George did not notice that. As he dropped the cones in the grass and ran towards the little form lying in the grass, all he knew was that Frankie was hurt and needed his help.

He got to where she was, and got down on his knees. This was wrong; this broken and bloody mess lying there could not be his wonderful little sister. Not Frankie.

At this point things stopped going in slow motion. Ross ran out of the building to see what had happened. When he saw he ran back inside yelling that he would call 911.

George knew that he couldn't touch her, Frankie might be hurt very badly, but he wanted to. He wanted to take her in his arms and say everything would be all right.

George paid the SUV none of his attention. He didn't care if the driver was dead; he even hoped he was dead, for what he did to Frankie.

He stayed like that until he heard sirens that said the paramedics were there. They gently pushed George out of the way, saying they needed to see how bad Frankie was. Then, for the first time since the accident, George looked over to the SUV. It had handed upright, and police were in the process of pulling a tall, muscular and dark haired man out of the driver's seat. George felt intense rage and hatred boil up in his stomach. He started walking over to kill the man there and then. It was then that he heard a little voice.

"George." It was almost too quiet to hear, but George knew it very well. The man forgotten, he ran over to where Frankie was being put into the back of the ambulance. He gently took her hand and started singing her a little song that their father sang to her all the time.

"Out of my window looking in the night, I can see the barges flickering light." That was Frankie's favorite song, and that always calmed her when she was distressed.

As they drove to the hospital, sirens blazing, George got out his cell phone and dialed their home number, to tell their father what had happened.

TBC

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_Sorry this took so long to update. I just finished exams a little while ago. _

_This was an interesting chapter to right. I thought I would be different and write something in the perspective of the victims._

_Please review _


	3. The Morning After

How could this happen to me?

Chapter 3: The morning after

Nick woke up with one of the worst headaches he had ever had. He had had hangovers before, but none were ever this bad. What he couldn't understand was why he had a hangover, because he had only had two beers.

Suddenly Nick realized that he wasn't in his own bed. He slowly sat up. He was in a little cell, with a bed, toilet and table. Then it dawned on him: he was in lockup. But why was he there.

Getting very confused, Nick looked out of the cell door, and realized that Greg and Sara were standing at the bars. Nick also saw that they both had tears in their eyes.

"Hey guys, what am I doing in lock up?"

"Do you remember what happened last night?" Greg asked him. "Tell us the last thing you remember."

"Sure, I was driving home, and I was about 10 minutes away."

"That's all?" Greg asked again.

"Yes. Now I assume that I didn't make it home, or I wouldn't be lying here in lockup. Now please tell me what happened."

This time it was Sara who spoke to him. "Nick, you rolled your car last night on your way home."

Nick was shocked. "Then why aren't I at the hospital?"

"You weren't hurt at all Nick," Greg told him.

"Then why am I here?"

Sara spoke again. "You're here Nick because you rolled your car over a 7 year old girl."

Nick felt as though someone had kicked him.

"But she's ok right?"

Greg shook his head. "She was alive and conscious when they got her to the hospital. They took her into surgery right away. But she died at 6 this morning.

"What time is it now?"

"About 9am," Sara said.

Nick was speechless. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought that he would ever hit someone. As he struggled to remember the night before, but was shocked to find he couldn't. How could that be? He hadn't had that much to drink the night before, only two beers.

After a few seconds of shock Nick realized Sara was talking to him. "Sorry, come again?"

"Her family wants to talk to you. There coming in right now."

With that Greg and Sara walked off to the end of the hall. Nick looked towards the door and saw Brass leading a man in his late thirties and a teenage boy down towards his cell. After they were at the door he walked off.

After a couple seconds of silence the man spoke. "Hello Mr. Stokes, my names Malcolm O'Neill. This is my son George."

The boy was looking murder at Nick, and Nick suddenly had a flashback to the night before. It was very fuzzy, but it was there. A boy leaning over a lump in the grass, and himself thinking that maybe he was looking for his watch, or something like that.

"So, you're the man who killed my sister?" The question hurt more then Nick thought possible.

"I'm so………"

"SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH," George screamed.

Nick just hung his head. He knew it wasn't enough, but he still wanted to try.

When he looked up again, Nick just saw Mr. O'Neill gently pushing his son towards the door. Then he turned back to Nick.

"I just want to let you know, Mr. Stokes, that I don't hate you for what you did. It was an accident. I can never forgive you, you were drinking and driving, but I don't hate you."

After that he walked after his son, taking him by the shoulder and leading him away. Before leaving the hall Nick saw George throw a look of absolute hatred at him. Even if his father did not hate Nick for what he did, Nick knew that George always would.

Nick sat down on the bed, head in his hands. He couldn't believe that this was happening to him.

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_Sorry this took so long. I just was super busy. I'll try to update more regularly now._


	4. The investigation

How could this happen to me?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter 4: The Investigation

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The investigation would have been closed up in five minutes, had it not been for the stubbornness of Greg. He refused to believe that it was Nick's fault that he had crashed.

The day after the accident, Greg took that sample of blood that had been taken from Nick to Hodges.

"What can I do for you Greg?" Hodges asked when he entered trace.

"I need you to check the alcohol concentration in this blood," Greg replied.

"This is Nick's blood, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I hope it turns out the way you want."

After leaving trace, Greg went in search of Sara. He needed a distraction. He found her in the break room, reading a book. He sat down next to her, and for the next half hour they didn't talk, they just held hands and sat there, staring into space.

After that time Greg got paged by Hodges, and he went to see what it was.

"How many drinks did you say Nick had?" Hodges asked.

"He had two beers. That was all because he had to drive home that night."

"Well, his blood work shows that he had about the equivalent of a bottle of whisky in his system right after the crash."

"No wonder he could barley stand up. Someone must have switched his drinks." Greg was very happy. That meant that Nick was not at fault. He might be released.

Greg made a bee line for the lockup so he could talk to Nick. When he got there he saw that Nick was sleeping.

"Nick! Nick, wake up!" Nick woke with a start, and stared at Greg.

"What do you want, I was resting?"

"I have to ask you a question about the night of the accident."

Nick looked down. Greg knew that he didn't want to talk about it, but knew he had to.

"Ok, what is it?"

"Where your drinks open, or closed, when you got them at the bar?"

Nick thought it was a bit of an odd question, but answered anyways. "They were both already open and poured into glasses for me. Why?"

"Because that means that you weren't at fault for the crash. Someone drugged you."

Nick felt a sudden swell of happiness. It wasn't his fault that little girl was dead. He could live with himself now.

"I'm going down to the bar to ask some questions. If anything comes up, I'll let you know," Greg assured Nick. With that he left, on his way to the new bar on the strip.

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The bar was almost empty, and Greg went strait up to the bar tender, a young woman he recognized from the night before.

"Excuse me; I'm Greg Sanders, from the crime lab. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions."

"Fire away sweetheart."

"Where you working last night?"

"Yes, all night until 2am."

"Do you recognize this man?" Greg held out a picture of Nick for the woman to look at.

"Yeah. That's the cute guy that was here last night. I tried to flirt, but he wasn't in the mood."

"Did you serve him drinks?"

"Yes. Two beers, if I'm not mistaken."

"You have a pretty good memory of just one guy in a whole night."

"He was cute. I remember the cute ones."

"Is it possible that someone switched his drink that night? Maybe made it something a little stronger?"

"No way. I'm the only one who handles the drinks. There's no middle man."

"Well then, could you have switched it?"

"How dare you say something like that?" She was becoming very angry by this point. "I would never do something like that."

"I think you did. I think you switched his drink with something stronger, then gave it to him already open and poured."

"And why would I do something like that?"

"Because he didn't come on to your advances."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Well just to let you know, a 7 year old girl is not dead because of what you did." That stopped her. The woman looked thunderstruck. Then she started stuttering.

"I didn't mean for that to happen……….I only wanted to give him a bad hangover the next day………………I thought he was with the other two people………….one of them was the designated driver……………………she was the one who was supposed to do the driving."

"Well, that man drove his own car to the bar, and since he thought he'd only had two beers, he could drive home."

"I'm sorry."

"Tell that to the girls' family, you're under arrest."

The officer came up and cuffed the young woman. She went without a fight, still reeling over that thought that she had lead to the death of a little girl. Greg signed, put on his sunglasses, and got into his car to drive back to the crime lab.

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_I'm trying to get this story done. Hope you like it. One more chapter to go._


	5. The New Beginning

How could this happen to me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything; I just like to make things up

Chapter 5: The New Beginning

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One week later:

It had been a week since the bar tender had been arrested. It had been a week since Nick had been released. The department agreed that since someone had drugged him, Nick could not be found at fault for the crime.

Now Nick was standing in the Las Vegas airport, trying to find Mr. O'Neill and George. He knew they were leaving for Florida, and he wanted to talk to them before they did.

Suddenly he saw them by the terminal, and shouted their names. When he had their attention he went towards the two.

"What do you want?" George asked with great hostility.

Nick held out his hand. "I just want to say that I'm sorry. If I'd know what had happened I never would have driven. I know you'll never forgive me. I don't expect you to. I also expect you to hate me for the rest of your life. I just want you to acknowledge the fact that I'm sorry. That it's hurting me a lot to know what happened"

Everything was quiet between the two for about ten seconds. Then, very slowly, George reached over, and shook Nick's hand. It was very short, and then the young man went, took his bag, and walked towards the terminal. No words were spoken, but for Nick that was enough.

Mr. O'Neill then turned to Nick. "I want you to have this," and he handed Nick a small school photo of Frankie. "Just to remember her by."

Nick had tears in his eyes. "Thank you"

"The astronauts have done a wonderful thing," Mr. O'Neill told Nick.

"What's that?"

"When they heard what happened, one of them took all of his personal items out of his bag, so there would be room, and said that since Frankie loved space so much, it would be fitting to have her final resting place there as well. He took out his things so that there would be room for Frankie's ashes; we had her cremated two days ago. The astronaut said that he would take Frankie's ashes up to the space station, and since he was the only one going outside, he would scatter her ashes in the atmosphere. I think that's the sort of end Frankie would have wanted."

"That sounds beautiful," Now Nick really did have tears in his eyes, and they were threatening to overflow. "I'll watch the launch from here."

"I would like that very much."

And with that Mr. O'Neill also took his bag and walked towards his son and the terminal. Nick stood for a moment, then took out his wallet, put Frankie's picture in it, then started walking towards his car to go home.

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Two weeks later:

Once again Nick was at the same club with Greg and Sara. Once again the happy couple was dancing. Nick looked around; everything looked the same as when they had come a month ago. Nothing had changed.

The bar tender, another young woman, came up to him. "What can I get for you tonight?"

"A beer please." She walked off to get his drink.

For no particular reason, Nick suddenly reached for his wallet and took out Frankie's picture. He stared at the smiling face of the small child, who at this moment was floating in space above the earth. He couldn't help but smile.

It was at that time that his beer came. The bar tender leaned over and looked at the picture. "Is that your daughter?"

"No. It's the daughter of a………a friend of mine," was the answer.

"Why do you keep her picture in your wallet?" she asked next.

"As a reminder," Nick told her. Then he looked at her. "On second thought, I'd like a Coke please. In a can, and unopened. I want to open it myself."

"Sure thing," and the young woman left, but was back in a matter of seconds with a can of Coke.

Nick opened his drink, and smiled softly at Frankie's picture again as he drank.

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_Finally finished. That took a long time. Really hoped you liked it. PLEASE REVIEW_


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